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My June 2014 issue of Popular Mechanics just arrived today. On page 115 is a story with a few pictures by auto journalist Ben Wojdyla that will warm the heart of Packard enthusiasts. He bought an about-to-be scrapped 1950 Packard (it ran well in spite of serious rust) and wanted a winter project to rebuild the 327 eight. He enlisted fellow Detroit auto writers and enthusiasts to help him. The pictures almost make it look sexy and the text is mostly encouraging. Some very nice things are said about Packard engineering of the time. Although it is light on technical rebuilding details, I was happy to spend a few minutes reading and looking at the picture of a very clean shortblock Packard.

If you're not a subscriber, I'd bet your local library is. With a bit of luck, this article might be the spark that encourages a new appreciation of these engines.

See alao Ben's Project Blog here on PackardInfo.

Does the magazine article provide any updates? The blog ends rather abruptly.

The Popular Mechanics article stops at the not-problem-free installation of the crankshaft into the pristine Packard short block. Obviously, there's a lot more that needs to be said, and whether or not it will include the rest of the car. But for me, the real take of the experience, as told in the magazine article (by our Ben W.) is the enthusiasm and fun these experienced Detroit writers and mechanics had with the Packard 327 straight eight. They included people with hands on wrenching experiences with the likes of much more modern and sophisticated engines (e.g. Lamborghini), yet this was all they could talk about when they got together a bit later. Packard engineering and quality, in this 1950 engine, really impressed them.

I enjoyed the aforementioned series, cited above, with Ben, forum members and all those pictures contained here. I, too, want to hear the rest of the story. I hope that Ben will see fit to tell it.